Chapter 102: Clans Atop the Walls

Could the previous Hunter Trials possibly have been only a year ago? As Rallia Orgoron stared down with the other defenders, it seemed impossible. The years started to blur together as she got older, but she remembered Kai Granfian.

It had been a sad loss, when he emerged from the mana pool with a worthless Class. He was supposed to have potential, but she'd seen many times before how the world cared nothing for fairness. For her, it had been the injury that stopped her progress and ensured that she would never join the elites. She counted herself lucky that she could still be respected as a veteran hunter instead of simply stopped by fate.

After that, she had mostly forgotten about Kai. There had been a few whispers among the new Orgoron hunters about his futile training, but she ignored the gossip of children. She'd heard that he'd attacked someone and been banished, then assumed she would never hear of him again.

Only a year after awakening, he returned to the city transformed. Impossibly, her spiritual sight had indicated that he was almost stronger than her. Rallia had seen many young hunters with more ambition or more support pass her, but not broken Clanless without any advantages. He seemed to have abandoned his Class for some unfamiliar art, which explained nothing. The bulk of his power was built on top of insane improvement in Physique and Soul Levels.

Clearly, he had gained his new source of power from the foreign woman traveling with him. She kept her power carefully shrouded, but Rallia knew strength when she saw it. Perhaps the woman was training him, perhaps not, but she added to the mystery.

Now she stared down at Kai and had no idea what she was seeing.

A little blood and guts had never bothered Rallia. They were just part of the job if you were a serious hunter. She'd known some warriors who lost their heads in a fight and an even smaller number who managed to channel that into effective fighting. But she had never seen someone tear a monster apart with such savagery.

When she looked at him with her spiritual sight now, she could only see faint shadows of the symbols she had examined before. She thought they still existed, but they were overwhelmed by what she saw now.

<

Monster: Kai Clanless

Threat: Delta (IV)

>

He unquestionably registered as a monster, and not a weak one. If she had seen a delta-ranked monster in the wilderness, she would have fallen back and requested support. That could well be the right decision for him as well. She could have killed a Direboar herself, but she couldn't have dismantled one with such ease.

"Did the monsters infect him?" a nearby hunter asked.

"Is he really human?" came from a nervous civilian.

"What's going on?" asked a woman who was more honest than the other two.

Some looked toward Rallia for guidance, but she had no idea. It seemed likely that Kai had done something truly horrifying to himself in order to acquire this new power and that it had changed him. Even if he could fake being normal, he couldn't suppress that rage forever and he would never be allowed to stay in Goralian society.

Rallia wasn't sure she cared. As he left the Direboar corpse, he continued fighting the monster horde and he showed no signs of attacking his companion by accident. The foreign woman didn't seem particularly concerned either.

The fact was, they were facing a monster incursion of unprecedented enormity and they needed all the help they could get.

She wasn't sure exactly how strong to rate him, other than the fact that he had obviously overwhelmed a gamma-ranked Direboar. He still fought like a human, so her instincts still evaluated him like one. Even when hunters shrouded their essence, she thought she could tell a qualitative difference between those who were stuck below the 100 Power barrier and those who had passed it.

During the early fight, she had placed him in the former category. When he let loose, he was definitely in the latter. He wasn't almost as strong as her, he was much stronger.

"Do we shoot at him?" an archer asked. Rallia slapped the man in the face.

"He's fighting the monsters, idiot." She raised her voice to calm the crowds around her. "Stay focused! If we don't thin the herd here, the southern gate will never have a chance!"

Most of them obeyed simply because they'd seen how useful her Spellbow Class could be. Rallia wasn't sure it would be enough and wished she could have convinced others to join her at the northern front. This incursion was so erratic compared to the somewhat predictable waves of the others. In that past, the elites had told her that would only happen if the Frontier collapsed, so she hoped that the worst hadn't come to pass.

When Rallia saw something flying in the corner of her vision, she generated another mana arrow and very nearly loosed it. She barely held her draw at the last second. Once she realized the truth, she instead targeted one of the larger monsters below that hadn't reached Kai yet.

The heads of the major clans had returned in their flying vessel, a great ocean-going ship that had been converted to run on mana. It creaked as it slid over the city, but she didn't see any signs of damage. Many on the walls cheered and Rallia actually joined them. She could see the Orgoron scions and several other strong young hunters on board, so they would make a real difference.

Instead of floating over the battlefield, however, the ship slipped over the wall to land at the Hunters Guild. None of the young hunters disembarked, but Hannagan Lantrian jumped off the side to the wall. He was some distance away, so Rallia had to push her way past other defenders to talk to him.

"Never lose heart!" Hannagan was saying, imparting courage to those around him. "Monskon City will never fall so long as stout hearts defend it!"

Rallia tried to get his attention, politely at first and eventually pulling him away from the others. Hannagan drew himself up angrily and she was reminded again of just how powerful the old man was. She'd never seen his true strength, but she was certain it was over 100. That didn't matter, since she was approaching him as a fellow hunter.

"Why land the ship?" she asked in a voice too low for the others to hear. "We've managed to break up the horde, so this is the perfect chance for the young hunters to test their strength before the worst arrives."

"Fight as long as you can," Hannagan told her, "then retreat to the Hunters Guild. We'll have returned to take a second group of people by then."

"You're retreating? Isn't it a little late for that?"

"Monskon City is doomed." He uttered the words in a heavy whisper. "I don't know what the elites were doing, but this incursion is pure chaos. Instead of spreading out, much of the horde is concentrating here."

Rallia stared, not quite able to believe her ears, before she forced herself to answer. "You just told those people th-"

"Why make them suffer in their final hours? Even if they make it to the end, there is a monster coming that will end everything quickly. That beast is also the reason I've forbidden the young hunters from engaging: I cannot allow the flowers of our city to be cut down before their prime."

"At the cost of the city."

"These are difficult times." Hannagan stroked his long beard as if calm, but she could see his muscles shifting under his tunic. He was willing to back up his words with force. "You've always held the line like a good hunter, Rallia. Don't do something foolish and waste all that. We'll need veterans if we are to rebuild."

"Yes, sir." As much as she hated it, there was nothing she could do. Hannagan Lantrian was absolutely vicious about bringing down the might of the Hunters Guild and the entire Lantrian clan on anyone who threatened his power.

"Now, if we just... wait, what the hell is that?"

Hannagan had looked over the battlefield many times, but it had been more of a show than real observation. Now that he actually examined it, his eyes locked on Kai. The old man was no fool: he understood what he was seeing instantly. If he had any concerns about the boundaries between human and monster, he didn't show it.

"And so that fool ended up becoming a monster after all." Hannagan raised a fist and gathered intense green mana, then aimed it toward the battle below. "One less for the horde."

His attack plowed through the air, slow but immensely powerful. Kai and his companion were taking down a massive spider and didn't notice its approach. He was still covered in blood and looked like a barbarian, but he was fighting for the city. If that strike connected...

Before she knew what she was doing, Rallia had already released her arrow.

It sped after the green burst, collided with its side, and sent both flying in opposite directions. Kai whirled to see the attack, but Rallia was almost out of time to worry about him. Hannagan had turned on her with fury in his eyes and she knew she'd be punished for this.

"Good luck, kid," she muttered under her breath. If he survived this, his life was only going to get harder.